1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch screen, a method of manufacturing the same, and a mobile terminal having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a touch screen, a method of manufacturing the same, and a mobile terminal having the same for minimizing a border area of the mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, mobile terminals have a touch screen for input convenience. The touch screen includes a display panel and a touch panel.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a touch screen according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a display panel 131 of a touch screen 130 is divided into an active area 31a for displaying an image (i.e., a still image and a moving picture) and a non-active area 31b in which an image is not displayed. The active area 31a includes a data driving Integrated Circuit (IC) for supplying image data and a gate driving IC for supplying a scan signal. The non-active area 31b includes a wire for connecting the gate driving IC, the data driving IC, and a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (not shown). In the PCB, various elements (e.g., a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Driver Interface (LDI)) are mounted for processing and/or converting an image signal from the outside to a signal appropriate for driving the display panel 131 and for supplying the processed and/or converted image signal to the gate driving IC and the data driving IC.
A touch panel 132 is disposed at a front surface of the display panel 131. The touch panel 132 includes a touch detection area 32a and a wiring area 32b. A touch sensor for detecting a touch is positioned at the touch detection area 32a. The wiring area 32b includes a plurality of wirings for connecting the touch sensor and a touch driver IC.
FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating an external appearance of a mobile terminal having a touch screen according to the related art.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a mobile terminal 100 has a rectangular shape, and a protection window 141, for protecting the touch screen 130, is positioned at a front surface thereof. A speaker 110 is positioned at an upper end portion of a main body of the mobile terminal 100, and function keys 150 are positioned at a lower end portion of the main body.
The protection window 141 may have a transparent area 41a and an opaque border area 41b. The border area 41b is formed in the mobile terminal 100 due to the non-active area 31b of the display panel 131 and the wiring area 32b of the touch panel 132. The border area 41b is formed by printing a specific color (e.g., a black color) in the protection window 141. The border area 41b enables the non-active area 31b of the display panel 131 and the wiring area 32b of the touch panel 132 not to be exposed to a user and prevents light leakage of the display panel 131.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a mobile terminal taken along line A-A′ of FIG. 2 according to the related art.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, the display panel 131 and the touch panel 132 are stacked in the touch screen 130, and the protection window 141 is disposed at the touch panel 132. The display panel 131 and the touch panel 132, and the touch panel 132 and the protection window 141 are bonded by adhesives 60, for example an Optically Clear Adhesive (OCA) or a synthetic resin. The touch screen 130 is mounted in the mobile terminal 100. In this case, the border area 41b of the protection window 141 is bonded to a case 101 of the mobile terminal 100 through a double-sided tape 50. A buffering material 10 (e.g., a sponge, a Poron foam, and the like), for performing a buffering operation by preventing the display panel 131 from being broken when an impact occurs, is disposed between the display panel 131 and a bracket 20. In this way, in order to prevent exposure of the non-active area 31b of the display panel 131 and the wiring area 32b of the touch panel 132, the mobile terminal 100 having a conventional touch screen requests a relatively wide border area 41b. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 100 of the related art has a design restriction wherein an entire size of the terminal is larger than necessary.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of minimizing a border area of a touch screen of a mobile terminal using a flexible display panel and a flexible touch panel.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.